Second annual chicken dinner for charity

Friday

Mar 29, 2013 at 3:00 PM

Tickets are now on sale for the annual student council charity fundraising dinner at the La Junta Intermediate School. The funds raised will go to benefit students in the building, research to combat Prader-Willi Syndrome, Autism Speaks and Pennies for Patients. Also, a memorial for veterans has been discussed.

Bette McFarrenbmcfarren@ljtdmail.com

Tickets are now on sale for the annual student council charity fundraising dinner at the La Junta Intermediate School. The funds raised will go to benefit students in the building, research to combat Prader-Willi Syndrome, Autism Speaks and Pennies for Patients. Also, a memorial for veterans has been discussed.

Pennies for Patients has raised millions of dollars through pennies and loose change collected during a three-week period from elementary, middle school and high school students throughout the country. The money is used to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex genetic disorder caused by the absence of active genetic material on chromosome 15. PWS occurs in approximately one in every 20,000 births and equally affects males and females of all races and ethnic groups. The disorder develops in two stages: infants have muscle weakness, feeding difficulties and poor growth. During childhood, this is replaced by an insatiable appetite, slow metabolism, behavioral problems, and learning difficulties. Severe, life-threatening obesity results if food intake is not strictly controlled. The symptoms of PWS are thought to be caused by dysfunction of the hypothalamus in the brain, an area that regulates appetite, metabolism, pain, temperature, hormone levels and behavior/mood.

PWS is a common genetic cause of morbid childhood obesity. Research into the cause and treatment of obesity in PWS may provide important insight into obesity in the general population, generating new opportunities to alleviate childhood obesity, which has reached epidemic proportions.

Individuals with PWS require lifelong supervision in a controlled environment. There is no cure now, but one may be found through research.

Everyone who participates in helping others is a winner, and the student council and students at the Intermediate School have worked hard to contribute to all opportunities they have had.

The menu for the dinner is chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, gravy, roll, dessert and a drink. Take-out will also be available and there will be door prizes.